NC Family Signs Amicus Brief to SCOTUS in Student Privacy Case

NC Family Staff | October 2, 2017 | SHARE:

NC Family signed onto an important friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court last week in Kenosha v. Whitaker, a case out of Wisconsin dealing with the definition of “sex” and bathroom access rights for a transgender-identifying student. The Amicus Brief urges the Justices of the High Court to take up the case previously ruled on by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. NC Family joins with 18 other Family Policy Councils, the Family Research Council, and The Institute for Faith and Family in submitting the brief to the Supreme Court.

“The 7th Circuit’s ruling in this case is so egregious that we felt obligated to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to take on this case to clarify the fundamental definition of ‘sex’ and the fundamental rights of students to privacy and safety at school,” said NC Family President John L. Rustin. “We pray our nation’s highest court will see the importance of rectifying the flawed reasoning adopted by the 7th Circuit in this case and rule in favor of common decency and common sense.”

Earlier this year, the 7th Circuit ruled unanimously that a Wisconsin public high school student—a biological female who identifies as male—could use the boy’s restroom (and presumably other intimate facilities) at school, citing Title IX protections against “sex discrimination.” This Amicus Brief, in part, urges the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the petition to: 1) “clarify-but not redraft-the Title IX statute at issue;” 2) “clarify that policies providing sex-segregated private facilities do not constitute ‘sex stereotyping’”; and 3) “affirm the unambiguous language of Title IX and its implementing regulation.”

As Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) outlined in a statement prior to the 7th Circuit ruling, the key legal issue in this case is “whether federal sex nondiscrimination law—Title IX—which was intended to provide equal access for girls to educational opportunities—will instead be used for a purpose other than Congress intended.”

If you are interested in learning more, you can watch NC Family president John L. Rustin discuss the brief with FRC’s Travis Weber via Facebook Live. You can find this video on NC Family’s Facebook page.